Shostakovich, Katerina Izmaylova (1963 version): Soloists, Chorus & Orchestra of the Mariinsky Theatre/Valery Gergiev. Coliseum, 23.07.2006 (CC)

 

The sheer energy exuded by the Mariinsky forces is breathtaking. The visits by this company have been cherished by Londoners (Prokofiev’s Semyon Kotko and War and Peace at Covent Garden some years ago being particular milestones in this reviewer’s musical life). This particular visit will be no less fondly remembered.

 

Katerina Izmaylova is of course the 1963 reworking of Lady Macbeth of the Mtsensk District, the opera that caused the composer so much stress because of conflict with authority. And yet Katerina is no mere compromise – it remains a powerful musical statement (the musical language pulls few punches). Having been impressed by the ENO staging of Lady Macbeth in 2001 (Marc Bridle reviewed it here:) one had to wonder just what Gergiev would achieve.

 

Gergiev on top form is a thing of wonder, and it is true he seems particularly at home in the opera pit. The production (stage director Irina Molostova) was, appropriately enough for the opera’s subject matter, stark and bleak. Mobile wooden panelling gave way to a stunning use of colour in the lighting that seemed to project Izmaylova’s journey to destruction to perfection. All seemed in service of the ongoing drama.

 

The part of Katerina Lvovna Izmaylova was taken by Olga Sergeyeva, who joined the Mariinsky in 2000 (interestingly she has tackled Brünnhilde at the Met). She has all the vocal resources for this cripplingly difficult part. Most importantly, she engaged the emotions of the audience throughout. Her Act 1 aria portraying her sadness was a highlight; her assumption of the role in Act 4 was totally convincing.

 

If there was one character who vied with Sergeyeva in excellence, it was the veteran Gennady Bezzubenkov as Boris. Bezzubenkov’s repertoire is vast, his experience huge, and it showed in his stage command and his complete grasp of the role. The fact that he dies in Act 2 seemed a huge shame. His large, dark voice is exactly what lovers of Russian opera come to hear.

 

Complementing Bezzubenkov perfectly was Oleg Balashov’s superb Sergei. Balashov has taken on roles such as Parsifal and Siegmund, and certainly stamina is not a problem. The scenes with Katerina in Act 2 exuded tenderness – accompanied by a phenomenally sensual orchestra. Yevgeny Akimov was a confident Zinovy.

 

Even the small roles were well cast, with Mikhail Petrenko as an implausibly tall and thin Priest - intervals were astonishingly cleanly negotiated. Olga Savova was a truly Russian contralto as Sonyetka.

 

No surprise that everything was in such order, possibly, with the workaholic Gergiev at the helm, but there was no denying the intensity of the powerful orchestral interludes. The Coliseum’s acoustic gave the Mariinsky’s orchestra something to contend with, and in general they acquitted themselves magnificently (the space does high violins no favours at all – any messiness of ensemble in faster passages up in the stratosphere is revealed with surgical clarity). Choruses were awe-inspiring (the marriage feast especially was a tour-de-force).

 

The final act, of Dostoyevskian darkness, made a huge impact. Katerina’s pleas for forgiveness were simply amazing; the crushing dissonances on the orchestra were unforgettable. Typical Gergiev to project the score with pitiless honesty. No sharp harmonic edges were rounded, no moments of outrageous scoring blunted.

 

It was a privilege to see and hear such excellence. This is an exhausting score, pretty much unremitting in intensity (moments of slapstick are of course tinged with Shostakovich’s characteristic irony). But it is surely uplifting to experience Russian opera as authentically performed as this.

 

Colin Clarke